Yreka high board looks at bond measure for gym upgrades

Sports, drama and music may find new homes at Yreka High School if the Yreka Union High School District Board of Trustees approves a proposed facilities improvement project.

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By David Smithdsmith@siskiyoudaily.com

Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

By David Smithdsmith@siskiyoudaily.com

Posted Apr. 24, 2014 at 12:06 PM

By David Smithdsmith@siskiyoudaily.com

Posted Apr. 24, 2014 at 12:06 PM

Sports, drama and music may find new homes at Yreka High School if the Yreka Union High School District Board of Trustees approves a proposed facilities improvement project.

According to a recent YUHSD press release, the board will be considering approval of the project at its May 21 meeting. Parsed into three phases, the project would include the construction of a new gym building on the YHS campus, a remodel of the existing gym and a remodeling of the small gym currently on the YHS campus.

The new gym would be approximately 21,000 square feet, housing three full-size practice courts and boys’ and girls’ locker rooms, varsity team rooms and coaches’ offices. It would also feature a weight room, snack bar and Hall of Fame area.

The total cost, according to the release, would be $4.2-4.5 million, as estimated at today’s prices for construction and materials.

The phase two remodeling of the old gym, which is located on Knapp Street off the main campus, would entail a repurposing of the gym into a 1,100-seat auditorium.

The transition would restore and open the original stage, remove the existing floor and bleachers to make way for the auditorium seating, install stage lighting and a sound system and make acoustic modifications to the building. Dressing rooms and a green room would also be constructed, and the locker rooms would be converted to accomodate the football and soccer teams.

The estimated cost of the second phase would be $2.8-3.2 million.

The final phase would remodel the school’s small gym into a music room and performing arts center, and would include updating the lighting, flooring and acoustics. It would also feature the construction of dedicated storage and music lockers.

The total estimated cost would be $1-1.5 million.

YUHSD Superintendent Mark Greenfield said Wednesday that the proposal is driven both by a desire to promote student safety and provide a more appropriate venue for various student activities.

He explained that currently, students cross Knapp Street – a “fairly well-traveled” street – multiple times throughout the day to get to the large gym, which is one of the reasons the music room was moved to the main campus.

Greenfield also said that providing a larger facility for music and the performing arts would accomodate the growing student interest in those areas.

“The Performing Arts Programs continue to grow and are a significant part of Yreka High,” he said. “To provide that department with a huge, dedicated facility would be to recognize its importance and its significance to our students.”

According to the release, the board feels that the project is necessary for the reasons Greenfield cited, as well as reducing scheduling conflicts between different sports.

Page 2 of 2 - Currently the school has approximately $1,000,000 in building funds that could help begin construction of a new gym in the spring of 2015, with the simultaneous completion of the other two phases afterward. The total project time would likely be about three to four years to complete all three phases.

Greenfield added that, while the district could wait and continue to save money for the project, the costs could increase significantly over the time period required to save funds.

The total cost of the project in today’s dollars would be in the range of $8-9 milllion, and the board will explore a potential bond funding measure at the May 21 meeting.

Greenfield said that the board is looking to gauge whether the public agrees that the facilities are necessary, and whether or not a bond measure would garner enough support from the community.